


The Smiling Amongst our Faces

by DragonitesMask



Category: Splatoon
Genre: F/F, this is a crappy fic about my 2 gay children
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 05:08:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 9,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14394963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonitesMask/pseuds/DragonitesMask
Summary: A fic about Pyre the Octoling, June the Inkling, and how they entangled eachother in their lives.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Uuuhhhh hey so if you dont exactly enjoy violence this chapter skip ahead. Just a warning :)

**June's POV**

June awoke from her, sadly, amazing dream which consisted of her rescuing Callie and ending Octavio's silly fight. But however, it ended in a cliffhanger as usual. So she decided to get ready for the day, as memorized she brushed her teeth, put in her contacts, changed her clothing, took a shower, and ate. (Not in that order)

 

The mint-colored tentacles on the inkling's head bounced lightly as she ate and thought about what she might do today, the options were A. Complete some more missions for Marie at Octo Canyon, B. Do a few shifts for Mr.Grizz, or C. Play a few matches of Clam Blitz. She decided not to do option C because she hated Clam Blitz, and B because she was happy with not screwing up her pay-grade at the moment. So she happily put on her olive-green bomber jacket and headed outside and towards Inkopolis square.

When she arrived at the square, it was buzzing with other inklings and even a few jellyfish here and there. She walked straight past them, but they payed no mind as usual, and towards the manhole that lead towards Octo canyon. She slipped into her squid form and through the manhole. When June arrived she was greeted with a glance from Marie. "Oh, hey Agent 4. You're up earlier than usual." Was she? June checked the time on her phone and it appeared to be 6 a.m. ' _Huh, i guess i am_.' She thought to herself. "Anyways, i don't think i have to tell you what to do, right? Fight the Octarians, get the mini Zapfish, and be one step closer to saving Calli- uh, the Great Zapfish, yeah?" Agent 4 nodded and ran towards the next kettle that lead towards her next mission.

 

When she arrived at her next mission area, she almost instantly heard Marie speaking to her through her comms. "Uh Oh, looks like we've got eight mini-zapfish to collect and a whole lotta Octoling butt to kick." June lightly chuckled to herself at that and began moving towards the first mini- zapfish until she noticed three magenta haired Octolings guarding it. "This shouldn't take too long with these babies." she mumbled to herself as she pulled out three handful-sized autobombs. She began tossing them near the Octolings as they burst into ink right next to them, splatting them pretty explosively, but effectively in the process.

 

She walked over to the first one, broke its glassy prison and told Marie she got the first one down. "Nice," she said in a hard to read voice, "only seven more to go then we're r-EEL-y done here." June nodded and ran in the direction of the second and third ones. She decided to use only two autobombs and roll over the remaining Octolings with her Hero Roller with ease, as the small images of Octolings going back to their respawn point floated up into the sky she retrieved the second and third ones with haste.

"Almost halfway there, 4." Marie said to her as she made a triumphant smile and ran towards the fourth. June saw that this next zapfish was guarded by two magenta-tentacled Octolings and a scarier, black-tentacled one with kelp tied to its hair.

4 made a note to herself to try and take out the kelp-headed one first, then the what she assumed to be the lesser ones after. She stealthily inked the surrounding turf and got close enough to quietly splat the black-haired one. Oddly enough the other two Octolings did not take any notice of this happening, but June didn't mind. When she splatted the second Octoling, it however, did notice her and attack her on command. This Octo-nerd, as June sometime called them, was suprisingly harder than the kelp-headed one. It smirked as it managed to kick her roller away with so much force that it stumbled back, back, back, until it fell off part of a ledge and knocked itself out.

June huffed, got her roller back and went to go finish off the damned creature until she saw that it had already done half the job for her. "Thats.... Kind of sad?" She said to herself in a questionable tone. "Marie, this Octoling i am fighting knocked herself out. Do i.. Do i finish it off still or wait till a fair fight??" She waited until she heard Marie's comms tuning in, and her say "Of course! Finish off that salmonid-for-brain!" Agent 4 hummed in an unsure tone and slowly raised her roller to finish the disgusting creature. ' _They took away our main source of power and a beloved idol._ ' The small voiced in the back of her head hissed at her, 'This creature deserves whatever it gets.' The voice kept saying in her now throbbing skull.

"..Shut UP!!!" She yelled in a voice so loud she was worried the other Octolings would come looking for her, luckily, none of them did. "They must have strict orders to guard those zapfish to not even leave their posts." She whispered to herself. June sighed and decided to not kill, nor wait for this Octoling to recover. Instead, she picked it up bridal style and headed back to the kettle leading her back home.


	2. Chapter 2

**June's POV**

When June arrived back at the Tentakeel Outpost, it had already gotted dark within the few hours it took her of making sure this Octoling was not in a coma, and getting back. She found a note near Marie's usual standing spot; "Hey 4, i figured you were doing some extra missions and decided not to bother you. Hope you are alive. See you soon. -Marie" as she read this to herself she noticed the Octoling begining to stir in her sleep. 'I'll take her back to my apartment until i figure out what to do with her.' She thought as she picked up the octoling and moved through inkopolis under the blanket of night. Luckily the moon was not out and it was late enough that nobody was out or any stores were open.

 

When June got to her apartment, she unlocked the door, layed the Octoling on her spare bed and moved towards her kitchen. Only when she heard her stomach asking to be fed she hadn't realized how hungry she was, she pulled out her leftover food from Krusty Sean's food truck and began wolfing down the remains. June swore that everytime she ate from that place it always made her feel a little more boosted.

When she finished her food, she decided to see if the Octoling was awake or not, so she slowly opened the door to see its panicked, still covered by that large pair of goggles, face staring right back at her. They blinked and stared at eachother before June had said "uh.... Before you try to attack me hear me out- if you can understand me--" she paused. "Wait.. Can you understand what i am saying?" The Octoling didn't answer, instead, she slowly nodded her head and furrowed her brows at June. Agent 4 sighed and almost smiled a little bit at the Octarian. "This'll help out a ton! I.. Know you and i got off on a bad tentacle but since i am known to be quite the forgiving person, i'm willing to let bygones be bygones!" Wait. Why was June saying this? She was Agent 4 of the new Squidbeak Splatoon, for Sheldons sake! Was she suddenly gonna become buddy-pals with every octarian and- hell- betray all of squid kind?!? She pulled herself out of her thoughts for a moment, blinked, and looked at the Octarian again. It was making a bit of a confused and at the same time, worried face.

'maybe.. Maybe just with this one.' She found herself thinking. "Well i can see you aren't as trusting as i thought, but to be fair, i did try to kill you, all of your friends and get back something you guarded with your life. So i will let you think on it! What about food?"

Right as she had said this the Octoling's stomach made a low rumbling noise. Why hadn't June thought of that before? Of course she was probably hungry. The inkling had told the Octarian to stay there for one minute as she rummaged through her fridge and pantry, trying to find something that she'd like. 'what do octarians even eat? I hope i don't offend it..' She thought in a sheepish manner.

 

She finally found some clams-in-a-can and some sushi she had. June figured she would offer her something and she could choose for herself. She put the following foods on a plate and brought them to the room. Before she entered the room she heard loud shuffling and the bed's creaky mattress. She took a deep breath and stepped into the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lol this chapter is from Pyre's perspective! I hope you enjoy~

**Pyre's POV**

When Pyre had gotten out of her sleep she realized, one, that she was not where she'd expected to be. Instead, it was a small and unfamiliar room with a suprisingly soft bed and a dresser with a lamp on it. Two, her goggles weren't functioning as she wished, most likely due to screwed up signal. It'd take a while for them to fix themselves. And three, that her head was killing her eyesight from that fight with the Inkling--

Wait. She didn't kill that damn Inkling, did she? As Pyre realized this she immediately sprung up from the bed, a little dizzy, and fell back onto it due to blood pressure. When she heard the door open, she thought 'this is how i'm going to die. No respawn point and no weapons, at the hands and home of an Inkling.' But as she saw the door being opened by the same Inkling she fought yesterday evening, but she was even more suprised at the fact she wasn't armed nor looking ready to fight either. Was this Inkling trying to get herself killed? She gazed through her goggles and into the inkling's royal purple, with what almost seemed to be flecks of gold, eyes. The Inkling stared back and this seemed to continue for a minute or so, until the Inkling known as "Agent 4", thats what her commander had told her the Inkling's codename was, had said "Uh.. Before you try to kill me hear me out- if you can understand me--" She paused, then blinked.

 

"Wait, can you understand me?" Was this Inkling stupid? Of course she could understand her! She was trained to know basic Inkling to infiltrate conversations, and Octarian was her naitive language. Of course she would not tell her this, because she was given orders to never commune with enemies.

So instead, she glared and nodded towards her. The inkling known as Agent 4 sighed and said "This'll help out a ton! I know you and i got off on the wrong tentacle but since i'm known to be quite the forgiving inkling, i am willing to let bygones be bygones!" she smiled at the Octarian as Pyre thought 'is she joking? After what she has done to my people?? We need these zapfish more than they ever will, we deserved to win the war. This surface? this should have been  _my_ home.' She thought to herself bitterly as she gave a knife-cutting glare at the Inkling.

She obviously did not notice, most likely because of her headwear, as she continued to speak, "Well i can see you aren't as trusting as i thought, but to be fair i did try to kill you, all of your friends, and get back something you guarded with your life. So i'll let you think about it! What about food?" She asked in a curious tone.

Pyre hadn't realized how starving she was until she heard her stomach growl on queue as the Inkling said this. But as the inkling had heard this she replied "stay here for one minute, i'll see if i have anything." Then walked out of the room.

The Octarian had waited untill the door was fully closed to think of an escape plan, she took notice of her surroundings now that the lamp had been turned on out of curiosity when she was sitting on the bed. She recognized the lamp would be a hopefully tough enough weapon to bash her head in. She also thought she might find something in the closet on the other side of the room. Pyre had decided to scrap that idea just because of the risk of the Inkling catching her in the process.

She finally decided to just take the lamp and just exit the room and attack her anyways. It'd be stupid but what'd she have to lose? " _y_ _our life?"_  She said to herself in a small, nervous voice as she slowly got off of the bed. It made an irritatingly creaky sound, which made Pyre cringe a little bit as she armed herself with the lamp and headed towards the door. 

As it opened before her, she was greeted with the inkling holding a tray of what seemed to be some sort of food, but in the moment of suprise she used the lamp to launch the tray out of the air, and onto the ground with a crash, along with the contents spilled around the two of them. The inkling stumbled back a little with a slightly angered face staring at Pyre's shocked one.

Agent 4 stood and grabbed the lamp away from the Octarian with haste and said slowly "Do you know how hard it is to get good sushi in this part of Inkopolis?" Pyre was confused and stunned at the fact that she wasn't getting splatted right about now, and at the words coming from the Inkling's mouth.

Instead of strangling her in rage, she simply started to clean the spill from the food, and got some different food for the Octoling. "If you didn't like it all you had to do was say so.." Pyre heard her say. She almost felt a little bit ashamed of herself for causing such a mess.

As she watched the Inkling clean all of the disaster, she thought to herself that she would need a better escape plan.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> June and Pyre begin to talk, but with babysteps and food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapt has povs of both June and Pyre ;0

 

When June had finished cleaning, she was a little upset at the fact that the Octarian had just tried to kill her, but even more because she ruined a perfectly good meal, but because June was such a forgiving person she let it slide. So instead she made the Octoling some non-threatening, easy to clean cereal for her.

 

 

As she was bringing the sugary meal to the Octoling, she suddenly blurt out "Whats your name?" Before thinking. June wasn't really expecting a reply from the Octarian, but after a few seconds she simply replied with "Pyre."

 

 

' _Pyre, huh? Thats a nice name._ ' The Inkling thought to herself with content, "My name is June if you ever need to use it!" She said with a grin. Pyre didn't seem to look that impressed, as she snorted at this, but it was also hard to tell with her wearing those big goggles. Instead she took one bite, then started wolfing down the rest of the cereal.

 

 

**Pyre's POV**

 

 

Pyre would have never thought that inklings would have such good food on the surface. _'Octarians don't ever have much because of the conditions down there..'_ She thought with a twinge of sadness and anger.

 

 

She soon realized that she'd finished all of it that quickly, and Pyre decided to take a risk and ask for more, seeing as the Inkling probably did have some. So she quietly asked "Uh.. Can i have some more, possibly?" June looked suprised at first, then smiled and replied "Sure, but you gotta take your obnoxiously large goggles off," she paused, then continued "only if you want to. I'm not the type of squid to force someone out of their comfort zone."

 

 

Pyre chuckled quietly at this, then thought to herself bitterly ' _its already too late for that, don't you think?'_ But didn't say this as she wanted to trick the Inkling into becoming her friend, then leave when the oppritunity is given. So she nodded, then loosened the strap keeping the goggles around her face and slowly took them off.

 

 

**June's POV**

 

 

When June had saw that the Octarian had goldenrod-colored eyes with dark yellow irises, she was quite suprised. But it seemed Pyre had trouble adjusting her eyes to the brightness of the kitchen light, as she was continuously blinking for a minute or so.

 

 

Shortly after, she stated that she didn't exactly enjoy the brightness of the surface and that she liked the neon lights against the Octarian's fake night sky more than this.

 

 

June laughed at this, then said "its still dark on the surface, this is just a light bulb. It'll be a lot brighter in the morning." As the inkling said this she almost instantly yawned and realized she hadn't gotten any sleep since she just picked up Pyre and ran home. "I think i am gonna go to sleep, i'm so exhausted that i could get knocked out by a Steel Eel right about now.." June then told Pyre that she should probably get some sleep if she wants to know more about Inkopolis, then headed to her room for some much needed rest.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coffee and Bowls.

Pyre was stunned at how comfortable June's spare bed was and at how huch sleep she had gotten, she wished that she could bring it back to show her Octarian comrades. But before she lost herself in her thoughts, the Octoling left the room and began to examine the apartment to find any routes of escape so that once she put her plan into action it would not go without fail, like her mission with the Mini-zapfish.

She suddenly heard another door opening, one across the 'living room' is what June had called it. And to no suprise the mint-haired inkling looked at Pyre with a sleepy look in her eyes, blinked, then started preparing some sort of hot drink for herself. 

It smelled really strong and sweet, was the first thing she noticed about it, the second being that June was drinking it while there was steam coming off! ' _similar to what we do with our drinks... Does she recognize it?_ ' Probably not. Seeing as she is an inkling.

Pyre wanted to taste it. That was one thing she knew for sure, with what last nights meal tasted like. So she repeated what she saw June do, and pour herself a bowl of coffee.

Agent 4 looked like she was trying to hide a face as Pyre sipped some of the dark brown liquid. 

Pyre decided she  _hated_ it as she instantly spit it out. It was worse than anything the Octarians had ever made, it was like boiled tar was all she could think of. Soon enough the whole living space was filled with loud laughter coming from June, the Octarian also decided that laughter was a sound she enjoyed. She also found herself joining with June in the hearty laughing that was probably alarming the whole area at this point.

She soon found herself saying "What was that disgusting liquid?! Even my kind haven't made anything as bad as this!" June replied, still giggling "Its coffee, and its usually better if you put creamer in. Though i like mine strong as coal." She took a long sip from the cup, then continued "Though i found it amusing that you were sipping it out of a bowl than a mug, personally."

"Whats the difference? They both contain stuff, its not that important to me, at least." As Pyre was trying to locate the so called 'creamer'. Then June stood up and walked over to Pyre. Had the Inkling always been this tall? Or was it just because the Octarian was naturally a little short?

June then said with a small smile "do you need help finding it?" Pyre nodded, then backed away from her, she rummaged through the ice box and handed Pyre the small jug. She then poured some for the Octoling and put it back in the fridge.

Pyre decided she didn't hate it after all. It just needed the right kind of.. Something to it. Something that she enjoyed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> june bugs pov and a friend, but pyres pov too

**Junes POV**

June found that she enjoyed Pyres company, actually. She was funny and learned things pretty quickly, and as far as it seemed, she was pretty nice as well. When she had finished her cup of coffee, she got a text on her phone from Marie.

" _Hey 4, are you alive and safe? I am just making sure i don't have to rescue you from Octavio along with the Great Zapfish."_ June sighed and texted back soon enough  _"nah im okay! just spending the day with a friend :)"_. She patiently awaited for Marie to text her back  _"Ok, don't forget to take it easy every now and then to mantain your health, agent. See you on the flip side."_

The inkling smiled at this and said to Pyre "I have to go to the store later, and since you don't know much about Inkopolis, i figured you could check out the Inklopedia to learn more about everything, you know?" Pyre nodded and said "How... How long will you be gone?" June was almost suprised at this. All because the Octarian had said this in a slightly worried tone. "Ah. Probably just an hour if i walk to Mako Mart and back, hopefully the place isn't a battle stage today."

She said that she didn't need to go if Pyre didn't want her to, but the Octoling said it was fine. June then bid her goodbyes and headed off.

When she did arrive at Mako Mart, she was happy to see the place was nor busy or a battle stage. But as she was entering she heard someone calling her name. Confused, she looked around for the squid yelling her name. Then saw Sandy waving at her from the register, June walked over to her friend and talked. "How are you, June bug? Its been too long since we've seen eachother! You and i are still on for a grizzco shift!" Then June replied with the usual "I'm fine, yeah, sure thing." She just wanted to get groceries and get home, Sandy noticed her anxiety  and said "Is your head in the water, June? You seem distracted, is something wrong??" 

June didn't want to worry her friend so she said "ah, yeah! I'm just tired from work, thats all." Sandy obviously didn't believe it for a second, but let it pass. "Okay.. If anything is ever wrong i'm here. Anyways, see you soon!" To Junes content the other Inkling walked away, she would usually love hanging out with Sandy, but she needed to make sure Pyre hadn't burned down the house and gotten killed for being an Octarian. She got what she needed, (as well as a little suprise for Pyre) paid, and went straight back home.

**Pyres POV**

55 minutes of exploring every room in June's house, It seemed to fly by in all honesty. When she first examined June's room she found that the inkling had a ton of clothes that smelled.. Really nice suprisingly, and the second thing she noticed is that it was a really nice room, she layed on June's bed for a bit then went to explore the other rooms.

The kitchen and bathroom weren't as cool as she'd thought they'd be, as she had seen them before. Same with the living room and the room she'd been staying in. So Pyre eventually came to the conclusion that there was one main exit and entrance, but she wasn't sure if she would be able to use the windows as well.

She gave up trying to escape for now because June would be home any minute now, and instead started reading the Inkcyclopedia June suggested reading to 'understand more of Inkopolis.' It seemed to actually contain alot of useful info as she was getting lost in it.

It took one hour till June returned with an armful of groceries and a tired look on her face.

"Was it as awful as you were fearing?" Pyre asked with curiousity "Nah, i just saw a friend and talked with them for a bit. Sometimes it feels that much social interaction can take so much out of you" the inkling said with a sigh.

The Octarian hummed then went back to reading her book. She never thought she, an Octoling soldier, would have interest in books of all things. Wait, what about her Octoling comrades? Did they miss her or even think about her? Probably not, thats just how Octarians were.


	7. Chapter 7

**Junes pov**

June quickly punched in something on the item and handed her gift she had got for Pyre over, "what is it?" "Its a phone!" The Inkling pointed to her own and said "except yours is Octopus shaped insead of mine, which is Squid shaped. I figured you would like it.." She sheepishly said, but to June's happiness she replied "I actually do, thank you June." The Octoling smiled at her before sitting back down and checking out her new device.

 

"I also added my phone number so that when you decide to.. uh, leave.. We can still stay in touch! Cool right?" Pyre chuckled and said "yeah, it really is." But she looked uncomfortable. June thought it was probably her Octo armor she'd been wearing for practically 2 days straight, so she awkwardly asked "If you're uncomfortable in your armor i have some t-shirts you can borrow?"

 

She nodded as June retrieved a Krak-on t-shirt for the Octoling, June also stated that it might be a little big because Pyre was a little bit smaller than her, but Pyre didn't seem to particularly care much.

 

They both talked to eachother for what seemed like hours until they both agreed to put on a movie, 'Clambi' was its name and it seemed to put pyre to sleep pretty quick. An hour or so June guessed before turning it off and carrying her to her bed. The Inkling realized that Pyre was probably getting tired of being here, she seemed like she wanted to go back to her home and her family.

 

She thought on this, and chose to ask the Octarian about this tomorrow.

 

**Pyres pov**

 

Pyre liked the smell of June's shirts, it reminded her of the few times she visited the surface for missions and breathed in the fresh air. However, she did not like the movie. It was too slow and cheezy to the point where she fell asleep, but then she started to dream. This one happened to occur at the same place June, her fellow Octarians and herself had fought. Except nobody was fighting and the two were standing on either side of her.

 

" _Why are you betraying your kind, soldier?_ " The Octoling with the kelp tied around her tentacle said in a creepy voice. " _Might it be because you are actually enjoying your time with our sworn enemy?_ " She asked. "N-no, Commander. I'm simply collecting intel on our enemies base, Thats all, i-i swear! Pyre swore that the black haired Octoling was reading her mind through those goggles. She then said " _It better be. For your sake, Soldier._ " And then dissapeared.

 

" _I was wondering when she'd ever shut up,_ " June began to say " _Listen, i understand if you want to go home and i'm not going to force you to stay here either. Its your choice and i respect that._ " Soon after the Inkling said this with her trademark large smile, she, too, dissapeared.

 

Pyre knew what she had to do.

 

When the Octarian awoke in the morning she found that she was in June's spare bed, not on the couch anymore. She wiped the sleep out of her eyes and walked out to confront June. 

 

"G'mornin' Pyre.." She said with a yawn. "I have somethin' to ask you." The Octoling sat across from her and replied "I do too, but you go first." June sighed deeply then said "Well, i know you're probably missing a lot of thing right now and i don't want to have to feel like i'm keeping you trapped, either. So if you wanna go back to Octo Canyon just tell me and i can take you home. But if you don't then i really.. Would love to continue having your company around? I probably sound dumb but yeah." 

 

June looked truly saddened for the first time Pyre had seen. She didn't typically enjoy having to stand guarding some silly little electro-fish, but she missed everything about her home! Even if it was tough to live in. On the other tentacle she really liked June and felt really happy whenever she was near her!! "I.. I don't think i want to go yet if thats okay with you.."

 

The Inkling's purple eyes lit up when she heard this. "Its okay with me big time."


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Sandy and some outside time!!!

 

  **Junes pov**

 

She trusted Pyre much more now. And she thought it was enough to show her the true Inkopolis, Not just through the windows of her apartment at night. June thought of a safe way to hide the tentacles that gave Pyre away and figured the best way was to just tuck them all beneath a hat.

 

 

 

The inkling had told her that if she were to actually go outside and see Inkopolis that she'd have to wear one of her hats to keep any of the other Inklings from killing her. They both agreed to this and soon enough the two girls were out the door.

 

 

 

Pyre and June were half-way to Inkopolis square before June had spotted Sandy rushing towards them. ' _does she know about Pyre already??? Carp, i hope not._ ' She thought nervously before saying "Hi Sands! What brings you to my part of Inkopolis?" June hoped she didn't have any hints of fear or worry in her voice, as to her relief, Sandy did not seem to notice, as she replied with "I was actually coming to visit you, June bug. But it seems you're taken at the moment..?"

 

 

 

"Ah, this is Pyre. She is visiting me for a while because her parents are outta town. She is pretty cool." June's old friend gave Pyre a suspicious look, then said "right... Well, i was gonna head to Crusty Sean's. You guys wanna come?"

 

 

 

The mint-haired Inkling instantly said "Yeah!! Pyre here hasn't had his grub yet, she'll love it." Sandy nodded then walked with the other two the rest of the way to Inkopolis square, then proposed that after they eat they all play a few matches of Turf war. June explained that they could not due to house work needing to be done.

 

 

 

Soon enough Sean got their orders and gave them their food, they eventually found a table to sit at and enjoy their meals. As to no suprise Pyre began to eat her food quickly, but Sandy was eating slower, which was strange for her.

 

 

 

Suddenly Sandy stood up and yelled "June, i gotta talk to you real quick." Panic rose in her chest, but she didn't want to alarm all of Inkopolis, so she stood as well and let Sandy yank her behind a building. "Whats wrong San-" " _Why_ did you bring an Octoling into Inkopolis, June?!"

 

 

 

Everything came crashing down. She shakily replied "Lookiknowitsreallybadlookingbutsheisn'tbadandireallylikehersopleasedon--" Sandy shushed her and calmly said "I'm not gonna rat you out, dude. I trust you. All i am asking is why an Octarian of all things? Is she why you've been acting weird lately?"

 

 

 

June nodded, then said "I... Was fighting a few Octolings for a Mission and.. And i didn't kill her like i was supposed to." Sandy sighed, then hugged June. "She didn't kill you either at least. But now that you clarified that can we finish the food and _please_ play turf wars?? You still owe me!"

 

 

 

She accepted Sandy's offer and went back to the table with her pal. Pyre immediately turned towards them and chirped "Hi June, and 'Sands'? You guys were taking too long so i finished my food already. Whats next?" Sandy chuckled and said "Its actually 'Sandy', only June gets to call me that because we go waaaay back. And because i call her 'June bug'."

 

 

 

June nodded, then added on "after we finish our food we were thinking of doing some Turf Wars, what do you say Pyre?" The Octoling happily oblidged to this and waited for the others to finish their food. They did not waste any time on their food either, as they had finished it all within a few minutes.

 

 

 

Before the three walked into the lobby, Sandy had announced that she had to use the restroom real quick. When she did leave, Pyre asked "Hey June, can i call you 'June bug' too? Also what is a 'Turf war'? June was caught off guard by the question. She paused, then replied "S-sure i guess, and um, its a game Inklings participate in. We splat eachother and try to ink the most area as possible. Nobody truly dies though, because of the respawn points each team has."

 

 

 

Pyre looked relieved at this. "Good, cause i really don't feel like dying again."

 

 

 

After the three had finished their Turf war games, the sun was beginning to set on Inkopolis and they were starting to get drowzy. "Juuuunneee.." A yawn. "I wanna go hoooomeee.." The Octoling complained sleepily, Sandy yawned as well, then replied "Same here, Octo-gal. So i think i might head home too. Later June!" Sandy walked away as well as June and Pyre. Not realizing they were hand-in-hand with eachother, the two girls quietly and peacefully strolled through the night.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pyre gets her own clothes, the girls go to the mall and June gets called in to work.

 

 

**Pyres POV**

 

 

 

Pyre didn't like this 'Sandy' person June knew at all. She always seemed to be glancing Pyre as if she were about to murder every Inkling in Inkopolis. She had thought about it a few days ago but had a change of mind! ' _I_ _wonder if they're together.._ ' She sighed, then continued to eat her food ' _Probably. June did say that they've been friends for years._ ' She remembered as she saw them hug behind the corner.

 

 

 

After they came back to the table and finished their food, they played their Turf war matches. Pyre didn't really feel like doing it but she also did not want to be rude. Either way it was still pretty enjoyable because she got to splat some Inklings without hurting June. After this Sandy said goodbye and went to her home, as well as June and Pyre. On their way back, she took in that the city she should have been crushing to rubble was actually beautiful at night, the glowing neon-colored store signs reflected nicely off of the road.

 

 

 

Pyre also took note that the colors hit off of June's face in a mesmerizing way, so it showed off all of the golden flecks in her eyes.

 

 

 

She felt her face grow slightly warmer as they got to June's apartment, they were both too tired to bid eachother goodnight as they had simply groaned and treaded to bed.

 

 

 

She couldn't stop thinking about June when she layed down. ' _Can you stop thinking about her? She is probably with that other Inkling already! And even if she wasn't why would she like an Octoling like you??_ ' The voice in her head was right, she had to admit. It was all pretty useless to try to become friends with June when she already had so many. Was she just being nice out of pity to Pyre? Most likely.

 

 

 

But a tiny bit of herself was hoping that all of this wasn't true, and that June might return these feelings. ' _I'll ask her tomorrow.. Just to clear my damn head.._ ' And with that she drifted off into sleep.

 

 

 

**Junes pov**

 

 

 

She slept in quite well to be honest, with having spent all of yesterday with Pyre and Sands. But today was a new day and she needed to plan it out.

 

 

 

She thought about hanging out with Sandy and explaining more about how Pyre ended up with her, or maybe going shopping with Pyre to finally get her some of her own clothes so that she wouldn't have to continue wearing her own. Perhaps she should ask the Octoling if she is feeling up to it or not?

 

 

 

June slowly walked out of her room to see Pyre sitting on the couch in the living room, "Hey Pyre, I was thinking we coul--" "June, I want to ask a bit of a personal question real quick if that is okay?" She blinked at this, then said "Uh.. Sure??" The Octarian looked nervous while saying "Are, uhm, you and Sandy together...?"

 

 

 

She instantly started laughing at what Pyre had said. "Hah-ahah! Me and her??? Together?? She is like a little sister to me dude!! Sure i love her, but its sibling love. Plus shes straight as a lamp post while i'm not." June managed to stop giggling and continue "Anyways, i was wondering if you wanted to go to Arowana Mall with me and finally pick out some clothes for yourself! My treat?"

 

 

 

Pyre sighed and replied "Okay, but you don't have to pay. I have some money from those Turf wars we played yesterday." June insisted that she would pay and texted Sandy if she wanted to join the two girls on their trip, though she refused to get in between their 'little date'.

 

 

 

' _Pshh, I doubt she even likes me like that to begin with, asshat._ '

 

 

 

' _you know i'm right June bug~ you should just tell her tho! waiting will just make it harder._ '

 

 

 

' _Ugh, fine. I'll buy her something at the mall while we're there. Just stop bugging me abt it >:(._'

 

 

 

She received a thumbs up emoji and turned off her phone. Then the two girls left the apartment for the morning.

 

 

 

It didn't take them too long to reach Arowana, considering that June's apartment was close to that and MakoMart. When they did arrive the inkling pulled the Octoling toward all the clothing shops to browse all of her options. It didn't necessarily take her long, as she had picked out two t-shirts, a light pink sun hat that covered her tentacles, some shorts and a pair of cute black boots that were similar to the ones she had with her Octoling armor.

 

 

 

They looked nice on her to be honest. She asked if she wanted to change into them in the changing room real quick but Pyre declined her offer, so they both ended up paying and leaving the clothing store.

 

 

 

It was nice outside actually. So the two decided naturally to go for a walk-- well, that is untill June received a text from Marie saying that she needed to talk to her ASAP.

 

 

 

' _can it wait?? I am literally in the middle of something here_ ' she punched in and sent the message. Shortly after she got a reply from Agent 2, ' _Sorry 4, unless its save all of inkling kind important then no._ '

 

 

 

She huffed, then said "Change of plans, Pyre. I gotta meet up with my boss to do some stuff, so i'll just bring you back home then i have to run okay?" They were already walking home when the Octarian said "Oh... Your work is taking out my kind, yes?" June wished she hadn't said it like this, it made her sound like a monster. "Yes but also no, my main job that brings in rent and food money is GrizzCo. And my missions are basically what you said. Take out the baddies and rescue the zapfish!" She realized what she was saying then quickly rephrased "Not that you're bad or anything!! Sorry if that was mean."

 

 

 

When they reached the apartment Pyre hummed, then replied "No, there are certainly bad Octarians like there are bad Inklings. I just hope things will change in the future." June agreed, said goodbye to Pyre, then ran towards Inkopolis square.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ooo longish chapter

**June's pov**

 

She wondered if Pyre would see the gift she slipped into the bag she bought before they left, and if she had a spare Hero outfit at the outpost because she had forgotten her other one at home while she was rushing. But she didn't have time to worry if Marie said it was this important.

 

The agent super-jumped to the Cephalon HQ, where she was to meet Agent 2. When she did see Marie, the squid sister ran over to her and blurted out instantly "I think i know where the great Zapfish and Callie are, 4. And tonight you and i are gonna end this."

 

Marie explained how she got a radio signal from somewhere underneath the Cephalon HQ that sounded too much like Callie not to risk it. "Boss, if you don't remember i still have a guest at home who is expecting me to be back soon enough already. So i'm not sure if i-"

" _Four, please_ help me get my cousin back," Marie shakily said, "when gramps dissapeared i at least had her, but it is terrifying to be alone for this long. _Please_." June stared at her for a minute with pity, then took her phone out of her pocket and opened her messages.

 

' _I might not be home for a while Pyre.'_

 

**Pyre's pov**

 

She was moving all of her new clothes to her room untill she noticed a small, thin square item at the bottom of the bag. ' _must have gotten buried under all the clothing._ ' She took it out and examined it, it seemed to be a case of something. She opened it and it read on the inside ' _i think you'll like their music. -June bug :)_ ' although she didn't have a single idea what it was, she appreciated the thought in it.

 

The octoling took out the circular flappy disc-like thing within the case and decided maybe it went into June's movie player like she had seen when they watched the movie. So she popped it into said movie player and waited.

 

Pyre had heard music before, but never something so amazing! Apparently these two artists were called 'Off the Hook', she decided she loved 'Ebb and Flow' the most out of all of their music. But she didn't get to listen to the remaining music as her phone had annoyingly buzzed in the middle of a song.

 

She opened it to see June had sent her a text that said ' _I might not be home for a while Pyre._ '. That did concern her a bit, but she brushed it off because the Inkling said she would at least be home, so the music resumed and Pyre's mind drifted into the sounds.

 

**June's pov**

 

Everything hurt after the fight. Mainly her ribs, and she expected there to be a few more scars littered on her body, but she needed to see if Callie and Marie were okay after it first.

 

When she got back to the Tentakeel Outpost, Marie told the Agent how the Squid Sisters should lay low for Callie to heal after all of this mess. She happily agreed and told the two to take it easy for a while, then she bid them goodnight and started moving towards home.

 

It was somewhere near four in the morning when she got home, so she wasn't expecting to see Pyre sleeping on the couch with a worried expression on her face. She also took note of all the papers scattered in the living room with what seemed to be Octarian written on them. Was she sending messages to the Octarians? June instantly doubted this when she remembered that their King is now imprisoned in a snow globe, so she took off her Hero outfit, got ready for bed and relaxed.

Her phone was flooded with texts, most from Pyre, and one from Connor asking if she wanted to play Squid Beatz 2 with him.

 

_EmPyre: june are you okay its been three hours_

_EmPyre: june please i dont even know where you are so i cant help you_

_EmPyre: june_

 

Oh cod, she had turned off her phone when Marie and herself went to go rescue the great Zapfish and Callie and had forgot to text Pyre that she was okay.

 

She sure as hell didn't want to wake her up, so she just wrote down a little note on one of the unused papers

 

_Hi Pyre, sorry I didn't text back last night! I got caught up in work. Hope you like the gift i gave you and please don't kill me because i got home so late! xoxo -June_

She left the note for the Octoling on the coffee table and finally went to bed.

 

**Pyre's pov**

 

She was gonna kill June if she got home in one piece. But that was tomorrow and right now she was dreaming about if she should ever return to the Octarians or if she wanted to continue to stay with June.

 

Would the Octarians ever take her back after she had been enjoying her time with the enemy? Of course not, Octavio would probably send her down the ranks instead of being a soldier. She didn't want to think about it.

 

What about June? Would she let her stay here longer?? Well, that is if she even came back alive.

 

What would she do if she was dead? How would she get back home?!? _'Please be quiet for a little while so i may think.'_ She told her anxiety before trying to focus on something else, but it didn't go well as she was continuously thinking of June. So she just decided to stop thinking all together and finally rest.

6 AM was the time she quickly woke up, ran to June's bedroom to see if she was there, and to no worries she was alive. Horribly bruised and scarred, but alive.

 

_What had she been fighting last night that had given her such injuries?_ _I don't think even a commander Octoling could inflict this much pain and not get splatted._ It worried her a bit, but June deserved rest. It only took an hour and a half for June to wake up, "Goodmorning Pyre, you get my note??" What note?? She shook her head till June showed her a piece of paper with a message the Inkling had left when she got home.

"Oh, i did not see it. Sorry June." She brushed it off and sleepily walked over to the bathroom, getting ready for the day. Pyre was still very worried at her injuries and what she had fought that caused all of those, so she asked "Uh, June?? What happened to you last night?"

 

The inkling didn't respond for a good minute or so before saying "..Scrappers and Cohocks." Slowly and in an almost unsure voice. That did not ease her worry any bit, but she had a feeling it would be a bad idea to push.

 

They together spent the morning trying to avoid talking about what happened last night, but it was awkward and didn't last long. Soon enough Pyre had said "I know Salmonids didn't do this to you, June. The bruises and wounds are too deep and bad unlike Salmonid ones that are more commonly bites and scratches. Tell me the truth."

She ignored her.

" _June._ I know you can hear me!" Just tell me so i can help." Who knew she could be a tough cookie when she wanted to? Pyre huffed before saying "Ugh, i'll just keep pestering you till you answe-" June stood up, turned and stared the Octarian dead in the eyes.

 

"I'm not going to tell you for good reasons. So just stop it." She'd never seen her get so angry before, it was a little scary. "Well... Can you at least tell me the reasons?" June dropped her gaze on the Octoling and replied "mmmh, its because it involes someone and something too important."

"Is it dealing with Octavio?" June hesitated "...Yes." "Why didn't you say so? If it was just him i'd understand completely!" That was a lie, but she wanted to help June as much as possible. "Its not just that, Pyre. Someone my friend cared about got taken by Octavio as well." "As long as they are okay now, it is in the past. I want to help in any ways possible. No more lies, just the truth."

 

It was kind of ironic that she was saying this, as she had not told the truth about her crush on the Inkling, but she was pretty sure it was an exception. June took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yeah, no more lies. And if you really want to help me, you can assist with house cleaning and helping maintain my wounds!" Pyre gave a confused look "I... Tend to forget about wounds and end up picking at them.." "Oh, Okay! If i see they gotta be cleaned or something i'll tell you."

 

So for the rest of the day and in to the evening they cleaned both house and June's battle injuries. They took a break when they needed to eat, as expected. "Hey Pyre?" She hummed in response, "If we're not lying to eachother anymore then i think now is a better time than any, so i'm just gonna say it right now."


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lol sorry i didnt update in forever i had writers block

 

 

**Nobodys pov**

 

 

"S-so I have wanted to tell you this for a while, and.. uhm...." Why did June look so tense while saying all of this? It was odd. "I guess what I am trying to say is, I really like you. I like the fact that you can adapt to confusing situations in such a quick amount of time, I like the little freckles that are shone off when its dark and light reflects off of them, and I love that you--"

 

 

Pyre suddenly leaned towards the inkling, put her hand to her cheek, and kissed her. Not a hard or rough one, a soft and sweet kiss that made June wish the two could stay in that moment.

When they parted, both were blushing messes as they stared at eachother. "I-- I need to go." The octoling said as she immediately got up and left to her room. _What just happened?_ June thought to herself. She was fully aware of what had happened between them, but she was more curious about how she'd left shortly after.

_Did she.. Regret doing it?_

She was worried.

_Does she hate me after that?_

 

 

**Pyres pov**

 

 

She threw herself onto the bed and groaned miserably.

Her heart was beating at the speed of a griller chasing its target, and she was pretty sure her face was as red as one of Octavio's tentacles--

 

 

Again, why was she feeling all these.. Feelings.. for an inkling!? She wishes she still had her god damn goggles on so she could just cancel out all of her emotions and go back to doing as she said instead of betraying all of her kind. Sure, it wasn't healthy, but it did the job. Her options were quite limited; either have to awkwardly avoid June for the rest of her life, or escape home tonight.

Maybe... Maybe what she had in mind was the best solution.

 

 

**Junes pov**

 

 

**-**

 

 

It'd been 2 hours since then and neither had made a move for the better good, the confrontation would have made it extremely awkward. "Oh hey! I really liked how you kissed me back there, we should do it again in a relationship!" June ended up asking Connor for help, to her dismay.

 

 

_2-tired: Hey con i need help w somethin_

 

 

_C0nd0r: what is it_

_C0nd0r: sands?_

 

 

_2-tired: No_

_2-tired: its girl advice_

_2-tired: and if u even THINK about telling the others i will splat you into oblivion_

 

 

_C0nd0r: ok ok yeesh_

_C0nd0r: u dating someone finally?_

 

 

_2-tired: its complicated_

_2-tired: so this girl i like kissed me then left?? ? idk ehat to do_

_2-tired: she specifically said "i need to go."_

 

 

_C0nd0r: hm_

_C0nd0r: heres my two guesses_

_C0nd0r: she is cheating on someone else and doesnt want to get caught OR she was extremely flustered_

 

 

June blinked at the text Connor had sent her for a few seconds, the first guess was obviously out of the ring as Pyre seemed to love her fellow octarians more like siblings. But flustered?? If that was just it then she could probably do this! She was agent 4 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, for cod sake!!

 

 

But.. She was also probably asleep.. June sighed and went back to her phone.

 

 

_2-tired: thanks man, i owe u one_

 

 

_-_

 

 

The inkling was pretty sure it was now 3 AM, and was just about to pass out before she heard boots clammering outside her room.

 

 

_Ah, Pyre is awake?? Maybe now is a good time to talk to her.._

 

 

She got up and shuffled out of her room and toward the smaller figure. "Hey Pyre... I was figuring we could maybe talk over some hot chocolate or some--"

 

 

The octoling whipped around and stared at June,

Wearing her red, hypnotic, goggles.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I update slowly ik

 

**June** **s** **pov**

 

 

The octoling instantly lunged at June with her teeth bared, trying to grab the taller of the two. She luckily failed, as June had dodged to the side just in time. "Pyre?! What the hell is wrong with you!?" She didn't reply. Instead, she stood back up and started to menacingly walk toward the agent.

 

 

"Are you okay?? Please, just tell me whats wro-"

 

 

Again, Pyre tried to jump at June. But instead of dodging to the side she caught the other and held her to where she could not escape or attack. She finally made sound, but all it was were loud, guttural snarls and growls. Followed by bared teeth and flailing.

 

 

She eventually tired herself out, and June from holding her so long. Her own body would be torn up more, and probably dozens of stitches opened back up. But the smaller girl was passed out, the goggles now giving a dull red pulsing light each time her chest had begun to rise and fall softly. She winced at the sharp pain in her sides and arms, but she could handle it tomorrow. For now she had to figure out what reverted her back to her 'robot killer' mode.

 

 

It had to be those damn goggles, if anything. Only when she'd had them on she'd been so aggressive, so the agent carefully removed them, seeing the light inside them flicker off, and snapped them into two.

 

 

Pyre stirred slightly at the sudden noise then went back to barely moving. ' _Why'd she put them back on...? Was it all just a trick to kill me?_ ' Why, why why why, was she being so trusting to her? ' _Because you love her, idiot._ ' It was true, but she wouldn't admit it to herself. At least not now of all times.

 

 

She needed to think.

 

 

-

 

 

**Pyres pov**

 

 

Her head was throbbing with red pain.

 

 

In her dream, she was back at the slimeskin garrison training facility along with some other octarians, the air was familiarly hard to breathe in unless you were used to it. A few octolings seemed to be discussing weaponry and how they could improve it, while others seemed to be softly humming a familiar tune that made her feel a small bit of hope for her kind.

 

 

Her commanding octoling seemed to be calling over four others and herself, saying that they would be leaving to defend the eight mini-zapfish soon.

 

 

" _And never forget, hail King Octavio._ "

 

 

Everything faded into a different dream after that sentence, a less neutral one and more of a dark, uncomfortable dream that wasn't meant for familiarity or happiness. A _nightmare_.

 

 

Pyre was much smaller as it felt like everybody was either stampeding or pushing past her.

 

 

Everyone around her was moving toward the sound of rhythmic beating that was obviously not Octavio's own music. It was far too upbeat. There also seemed to be neon pink and green lights that were continuously moving around, she herself was too far from the music to understand what the singers were saying, but the expressions upon the octarians around her... They were ones of fear and worry.

 

 

' _Thats the squid who keeps ruining his majesty's plans?'_ , and ' _what do we do if they come for us too??'_. A few times a small blur of lime green would buzz toward Octavio and he would be forced to move back, at least thats what she saw until her brother called to her. " _P_ _yre, we need to leave now. Lets go."_

The now scared octoling bolted upright at this and looked around with nervous eyes, there, to her dismay, was June returning her look with angry purple eyes.

 

"Why the fuck did you do it..?" She instantly blurted out. The tone in her voice didn't sound like the June she knew, this one was much more low and dangerous. "I-" "DON'T make up some bullshit octarian excuse either. Just... Why?" Pyre didn't reply. "I trusted you so much. You tried to kill me, Pyre." She was shocked at the statement, after she had put on her goggles she had lost complete control of what was happening. "I didn't want you to hate me after what i had done.. And it seemed that the only viable option was to run back home and erase that this had ever happened."

 

 

Soon enough, the look on the inkling's face changed. The smaller octoling chuckled, then continued, "its funny, right? I am betraying my own kind and running from my feelings at the same time, while being so terrible at both.." Tears started forming in the corner of her eyes.

 

 

Suddenly, a strong hand rubbed her back as she quietly let out her anguish. There were no words between them, there didn't need to be any. The tall inkling got up, got a blanket and some freshly brewed coffee for the two of them.

 

 

"You shouldn't have to run from your feelings, at least not here. I want to help make inkopolis a better place where we don't have to fight eachother. So maybe we should do this.." June leaned closer to Pyre, "Together?"


End file.
